Now that some clubs are playing spring games, post results of the games and what you thought of the squads when you saw them. It will be interesting to get a heads up on how a lot of new guys are doing in squads that graduated a lot of seniors, and also the improvement made by returning players should be worth reading about as well.
U17 b & c team played Davidson, UNC-W & Wake Forest. Hack had the 'b' team play against Davidson & Wake. The 'b' team consists of guys who are vying for the reserve positions for next months qualifiers with the 'a' team. UNC-W played the 'c' team which is made up of 15 year olds & new kids to the residency program. Friday night US 'b' beats Davidson 3-1. Davidson has 6 starters studying abroad which hurt, but I think the US would have still won with those guys here. The US squad was very organized, extremely physical, technically WAY better and their speed of play was great. Davidson had 13 guys in uniform. Sat night UNC-W beats US 'c' (the younger guys) 1-0. The game could have gone either way. The 'c' team was pretty unorganized and were outmatched physically but still had plenty of chances. Sun- Wake beats the 'b' team 2-0. Could have gone either way. Wake & the US had sitters that were missed at various points in the game which could have changed things. I was surprised at how well Wake played considering many of the players were not regulars or even part timers. Wake had 13 guys in uniform. Wake scored late in the 80th minute and then again a few minutes later. Wake made them pay for a defensive mistake. The US had thier own chances from Wake's mistakes, but didn't find the back of the net. The Wake-US game was very competative, fast, organized, physical and 'beautiful' soccer to watch, not the normal college soccer crap.
Xavier beat Marshall 1-0. Bobby Salas scored with 15 left in the first to give Xavier the only goal they needed to win. Not a great game, but not a poor one either.
UNC heads to Florida for the first Spring Game Sat 3/26 UNC 11 vs Eckerd College UNC 1 vs FIU UNC Spring intra squad Blue / White matched the 1st team UNC1 vs UNC11 2nd team. SR GK Ford Williams (CASL)was injured and SO Dax McCarty U-17 (Florida) was training with U-18 at Bradenton. UNC1 had JR Justin Hughes U-20 in goal (CASL) UNC11 had SO Chris Litchford (Florida) As expected UNC1 controlled the game attacking with speed from outside midfielders JR Corey Ashe U-20 (Virgina), JR Michael Harrington U-20 (CASL) UNC1 had goals from center midfielders JR Wes Shull (NC), FR Scott Campbell (Florida) and 2 strong finishes from FR Stephen Bickford (CASL) national high school player of the year. UNC11 had 2 goals from outside midfielder Stokes Smith (Florida)
Did not make the trip to Florida but UNC reports as follows UNC "B" team plays D2 Eckerd College and wins 5-0 with Justin Hughes CASL in goal CASL FR Stephen Bickford ( high school player of the year ) scores 4 goals and Florida FR Scott Campbell scores the 1 goal. UNC "A" looked very quick in a 0-0 draw against FIU with Ford Williams CASL in goal The English NAIA all american trasfer forward Ben and Corey Ashe U20 were dangerous all day.
From the VCU website: RAMS SET SPRING SCHEDULE 3/31/05 The VCU men’s soccer team will play a series of exhibition games this spring. The Rams will entertain American on Sunday, April 3, at 4:00 p.m. at VCU’s Sports Backers Stadium. Here is the full spring schedule: Sunday, April 3, 4:00 p.m. vs. American at VCU’s Sports Backers Stadium Tuesday, April 5, 7:00 p.m. vs. Richmond Kickers at VCU’s Sports Backers Stadium Saturday, April 9, 3:00 p.m. at Virginia Wednesday, April 13, 6:00 p.m. at Virginia Beach Mariners
IU 2 - Lindsey Wilson 0. This time around IU had way too much quickness & pace for LW. IU's keeper, Munroe, had little to do. IU, starting Peterson & Noschang up top, had most of the play. Mellencamp started in place of O'Rourke & Stevning replaced Moor. Jed played the entire game (!). The midfield was roughly (l to r) Plotkin, Tudela, Hayden, Chirico. Early second half subs included Weaver at striker for Nosch (Weaver moved back later to mid), Traylor at outside mid, Robson up top. BRF
Nice to see Weaver and Noschang getting some time. Who scored the goals? Were there any notable assists?
Um, Tudela in the 1st (after sustained pressure) and Noschang in alone on the keeper (good speed & size on this lad!) on a nice 50yd through ball. I don't remember who served it. They played on the football field (turf over packed rubber) because of the rain, wanting to save the soccer field for the Mexican Y Nat team, so balls scooted away a lot. BRF
South Carolina 3 Presbyterian 1. A pretty boring game for most of the ninety minutes because of the strong gusts of wind which made fluid play very difficult. Sambursky's last goal was the highlight of the game for me; a beautiful passing move that ended in the back of the net after a good finish.
IU 3 - Bradley 0. Noschang/Peterson/Noschang. Everybody played for IU. Ambersley's absence notable. BRF
Sunday Results from the University of Dayton (60 Minute Games) Ohio State 2 Louisville 0 Dayton 2 Bowling Green 0 Louisville 3 Bowling Green 3 Ohio State 2 Dayton 1
BRF, What is notable about Ambersly's absence? Rumor is that he is dinged up a little. Noschang"s speed was more than LW could handle, however his 2 goals against Bradley were "right place, right time".
"Dinged up?" From what? Good to hear, tho. Senior presence is never a bad thing. Still, it may be hard for him to make it back into a starting role. BRF